No.do not have regrets, do not revive. This is how they tell us to do in order to live (better). We are called to diligently shake thoughts away, shadows of the past to be put to flight as taught by Lucio Battisti struggling with “light birds” that led him back to The Light of the East, towards those misty woods where possible and wasted lives sprouted.
Barbara Stefanelli (photo by Carlo Furgeri Gilbert).
When the pandemic stopped the world, Daniel Pinkauthor of several bestsellers recommended by New York Times, he began to collect them – regrets, “a universal experience” – in the belief that it is the most misunderstood of emotions. “Looking back pushes us forward»Is his bet that a couple of months ago (and after 18 collection) became another of his books: The Power of Regret. The power of regret. If you go to the site now worldregretsurvey.com you will find the confessions of 19,000 people, from 105 countries, and you will be immediately invited to participate: 3 minutes, anonymous answers and the curators who promise an “interesting and meaningful” virtual journey.
If you can’t allow yourself those 3 minutes inside you, you can click on an interactive map and browse the stories of others. Italians and Italians reveal feelings burned by haste or distraction – hugs not given to a grandmother who was then taken away by cancer in a flash, children not sought out until it became late, a classmate abandoned to depression as if he were a predestined loser and not one of us.
The Australians, for example, seem more pragmatic – not having started yoga earlier, having copied last year exams, not having quickly closed a wrong marriage, not having invested in cryptocurrencies … The thread that sews so many revelations is our tendency – transversal to time zones and cultural roots – a regret what we have not done. The courage we didn’t have makes us sick. Much more than a few gambles. All the effort involved in avoiding risks, to hole up in the “comfort zone”, ends up fueling the malaise from which we originally wanted to protect ourselves. Pink represents life as a tree where infinite decisions branch off, we take a road and go up in that direction, by choice or necessity. It makes sense, however, to look at the lives we have not lived, at least to follow with the corner of the eye the flight of the “light birds” that have passed over us.
In order not to fall back into the omissions – kisses suspended, marathons postponed, jobs never attempted – and try again, next time. Write to us [email protected]
All articles by Barbara Stefanelli
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